WASHINGTON,
DC, August 27, 2001 (ENS) - Green Party organizers and activists call
the policies of the Bush administration "irresponsible and reckless,"
and warn of severe damage to the world environment, the U.S. economy,
and the role of the U.S. in international relations.

In
their end of the summer review of President George W. Bush's agenda,
the Greens add that the lack of a strong, unified response from Democrats
in Congress on many of these policies shows an "urgent need"
for a progressive third party.

"When
Clinton adopted the Republican Party's rhetoric about 'big government,'
it gave Republicans an excuse to call for even more deregulation and
privatization," said Jo Chamberlain, member of the steering committee
of the newly formed Green Party of the United States and a California
Green. "These extremes come out of the Bush White House on a daily
basis, schemes like the privatization of Social Security and the halt
on federal prosecutions for violations of the Clean Air Act."

The
Green Party criticizes Bush administration plans to open more public
lands, including a portion of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, to
energy exploration. Also condemned are President Bush's moved to withdraw
from a number of international agreements, including the Kyoto Protocol,
which aims to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.

"Bush
has been reckless as the leader of the only global superpower,"
said Ben Manski, a member of the Green Party Steering Committee and
a Green from Wisconsin. "Bush refuses to sign agreements establishing
the international ban on biological warfare which updates the 1972 Biological
Weapons Convention, a United Nations proposal to curb the international
sale of small arms, an international court to investigate and prosecute
genocide and war crimes, and the Kyoto Treaty committing the U.S. to
a first step in slowing global warming."

The
Democratic Party can not be counted on to block Bush's policies, warned
Chamberlain.

"Thirty-six
Democratic members of the House joined with Republicans to allow Bush
to open Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling,"
Chamberlain noted.

"The
Green Party is now the party of the newly emerging center," said
Carol Miller, a New Mexico Green Party member. "We demand government
that's locally based and which advances environmentally healthy sustainable
economies, democratic workplaces, human rights, and a strong social
safety net."